


Sweet Nightmares Book 5

by opal_sapphire



Series: Sweet Nightmares [6]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries & Related Fandoms, The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:41:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23287939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opal_sapphire/pseuds/opal_sapphire
Summary: WE FINALLY ENDING AFTER WRITING THIS FOR 3 FUCKIN YEARS MY DUDES HOLY SHIT
Relationships: Keelin Malraux/Freya Mikaelson, Klaus Mikaelson/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Sweet Nightmares [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1307051
Comments: 3
Kudos: 19





	1. Where You Left Your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> WE FINALLY ENDING AFTER WRITING THIS FOR 3 FUCKIN YEARS MY DUDES HOLY SHIT

Rousseau's was louder than usual. Mardi Gras was about to hit in full swing, and if you lived in New Orleans? Well, let's just say there would be no end in sight.

And that was just for the humans.

"Okay guys," Poppy said, bringing a round of drinks over. "If these don't prep your liver for Mardi Gras, then nothing will."

"My liver was probably dead before I became a vampire," Josh replied. "But thanks, Poppy."

As Poppy walked away, Morgana took a sip of her drink and nearly choked on it. "Sweet Jesus. You could kill someone with that."

Shooting her a grin, Vincent rubbed his hands together. "Okay, so we should probably get back to the Mardi Gras prep."

"Come on, Vincent, we got this," Josh said. "It's gone off without a hitch for, what, seven years now?"

"That's because we haven't taken it for granted for seven years. Let me remind you, moments of prosperity are invariably followed by times of great pain, unless we remain vigilant."

"Thank you, Mr. Buzzkill," Freya muttered, taking a sip of her own drink. She made a face. Morgana pointed at her.

"Told you," she said. "But he's right. It's been a nice seven years. I'd like to keep it going."

"Thank you," Vincent said. "Now, what do you two got for Mardi Gras?"

"The witches will be working on their float in the City of the Dead," Freya replied.

"The werewolves in the bayou," Hayley said.

They looked to Josh. He was busy on his phone.

"Josh?" Morgana asked.

He looked up. "Yeah?"

"This is the part where you're supposed to say that the vampires are gonna steer clear of both," Vincent said, annoyed.

"Yeah, uh," Josh replied, glancing back down at his phone. "Actually, maybe we should offer them some sort of incentive."

"Seven years of peace and prosperity not enough?" Hayley asked dryly.

"Well it is, but we could always use more daylight rings."

"Is this a negotiation, Josh?" Vincent asked.

Josh looked back down at his phone instead of responding. Morgana leaned back in her seat. "How's Marcel doing?"

He looked up at her, eyes wide. She raised an eyebrow.

"First of all," he began, "that was very rude to read that--"

"First of all," she cut him off. "I didn't read anything. Second of all, you're forgetting my history with Marcel. I know his strategies. No offense, Josh, but you can't tell me you suddenly decided to try to negotiate for peace on your own."

He put his phone away and rolled his eyes.

"See, this is what I'm always talking about," Vincent said. "Marcel means Rebekah. Rebekah means Kol and Elijah. And I don't even want to think about Klaus right now, 'cause apparently he's lost his mind."

"We don't know if those rumors are true," Morgana and Freya said at the same time.

"I know that we need to make sure that they stay as far away from this city as possible. And Freya, I'll be Mr. Buzzkill if it means reminding everyone here that the magic that those four carry inside of them, if we put just the two of them in the same place, it is a ticking bomb."

"Relax," Morgana groaned. "Rebekah and Marcel are in New York, Kol is with Davina in Belize, Elijah is in France, and Klaus is...wherever the hell he is."

The bitterness in her voice might have been a bit strong.

"The point is, we're fine," she finished.

Poppy came back with a plate of food and set it down in front of Hayley. "Declan sent these over to tide you over until your date tomorrow."

Hayley smiled, looking over to the kitchen where Declan was.

"Oh my God," Josh said. "I swear, if you don't marry that guy, I will."

"Baby steps," Hayley chided. "He's human. Life's complicated enough."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her buzzing phone. "Hope's school. Like I said."

She stood and walked away to answer. When she turned back to the table, Morgana knew by the look on her face that something had happened.  
\--------------------------------------  
"So what did you say?" Morgana asked.

Freya hesitated and continued filling up the small box. She'd invited Morgana and Vincent over to the bell tower to talk. Keelin had been in Lebanon for the last six months, and the medical program she was working with had asked her to come back for six more. She'd asked Freya to come with her this time.

"Wait a minute, are you packing?" Vincent asked.

"I'm organizing," Freya sighed. "I said I don't know. But Keelin, she stayed in the city for six years waiting for me. She deserves this. And I really want to go, but now that Hope's gotten herself into trouble..."

"Wait a minute, what kind of trouble?"

"She was helping a Crescent boy," Morgana replied. "He was being bullied, so she gave him some of her blood."

"So he's a hybrid?"

She winced. "Yeah."

"Vince, she knows it was wrong, okay?" Freya said.

"No," he replied. "No, no, no, no ma'am, Miss Pam. Freya, you ain't going nowhere. You're gonna get on the phone with Keelin, and you're gonna tell her to bring her butt back here, okay, because you can't go anywhere. The three of us, we are a team, right?"

Morgana nodded, frowning.

"I know," Freya sighed.

"We are the glue that holds this city together, and you just can't go."

"Hope made a mistake, Vincent," Morgana said. "It'll get taken care of. That's only two things, and everyone knows bad things come in threes, so..." She trailed off when Grendel, perched on her shoulder like always, growled at something behind her. She turned and saw a vase of flowers wilting rapidly. Freya went and grabbed the vase. She pulled the flowers out and set them down.

"Is there anything else you feel like sharing?" Vincent asked.

"Hope's coming home," Morgana replied. "Just until this whole thing is over," she added, seeing the look on his face.

"It's nothing to worry about," Freya insisted, pouring the water from the vase into a basin.

At least, it was water. Now they watched as it turned into blood.

"Hope is coming home," Vincent said, counting off with his fingers. "She created a hybrid." He pointed at the blood. "One, two, three."

"Yeah," Freya mumbled.

Morgana pinched the bridge of her nose.  
\--------------------------------------  
Raised voices from a corner of the bar made Morgana and Vincent glance over. A small group of some vampires and werewolves were getting heated. She cursed under her breath. Freya came in and sat next to her.

"So I talked to Rebekah about the blood," she said. "Klaus got too close to Elijah."

"And so he tempts fate while his daughter wakes sleeping dogs," Vincent muttered. "That's great."

"Yeah."

He gestured to the group in the corner. "You see this over here? What seems to be the problem? This town is just going from zero to sixty in no time flat. I'm not surprised to see that nosy vampire Greta Sienna is all up in the mix. This town is just itching for some sort of fight, and if we don't do something--"

"Vincent," Freya interrupted him. "I get that this is serious, but I'm fighting for my life here."

They stared at her.

"I love Keelin," she continued. "And if I don't go see her now, I'm gonna lose her. Look, I am terrified that if I walk out this door, everything is gonna go to hell, but I know you two can do this without me. Right now I just need to hear that leaving isn't gonna make me a bad sister, a bad aunt or a bad friend, and, I don't know, maybe I'll get the guts to pick myself for once."

Morgana opened her mouth to respond, but Poppy chose to come over at that moment. "Hey guys, I am not digging the vibe in here."

They all glanced over at the group.

"More of a live and let live vampire, so I'm cutting out."

"Good idea," Morgana replied. "How much we owe you?"

Poppy made a face. "Oh, shut up, it's on me. Peace out."

Morgana smiled and waved. Poppy was cute. She turned back to Freya.

"Look," she said. "We have no idea how this is gonna go. No one does. So get out now while you still can, 'cause--"

She didn't get to finish, because Freya nearly knocked her off the barstool with the force of her hug.  
\--------------------------------------  
Jesus Christ bless them, the seven years of peace was about to come to an end. Morgana didn't think there was any stopping it. Maybe not even slowing it down.

The kid, Henry, the one Hope turned into a hybrid, had killed Poppy. Completely on accident, of course, as he had yet to learn to control his bloodlust. However, what was done was done, and Poppy's family, along with a few other vampires, wanted justice in the form of vengeance.

Morgana had let Hayley handle that one, as she was the alpha and, as such, the voice of the werewolves in this situation. Henry would not be handed over, and she would teach him self-control as the only other hybrid in the city.

That evening, Grendel bounded ahead of her as they entered the courtyard. Hope was sitting by the fountain drawing. Grendel jumped up next to her and forced his way on to her lap, purring and pushing his head against her hands. She laughed and scratched his head.

"How's the jailbird doing?" Morgana asked.

"About as well as you'd expect for being cooped up all day," Hope replied. Her gaze went behind Morgana's shoulder. "Auntie Ana?"

Morgana turned, and her mouth fell open. The water in the fountain had turned to blood. "Shit."

She pulled out her phone to text Freya and Hayley, but Freya walked in. She took one look at the fountain and stopped in her tracks. Morgana turned back to Hope. Grendel was growling low in his throat.

"Where's your mom?" She asked.

"She went outside to make a call," Hope replied, still looking at the fountain.

Morgana went out of the compound to look for Hayley. What she found instead made her blood run cold. She went back to the compound and handed Hope Hayley's cracked phone.

"I found this in the street," she said quietly, digging out her own phone to send a text to the person she hadn't heard from in years.

_Emergency. Call me now._

Right as she hit send, Hayley's phone started ringing. Hope answered it. "Dad?"

She paused. "Yeah, so are we. I don't know where she is. She's missing."

And as she hung up, the sky opened up and began to rain blood.


	2. One Wrong Turn On Bourbon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'll be skipping Ne Quitte Me Pas

After threatening a few people, and getting in touch with her contacts, Morgana was still no closer to finding Hayley. Safe to say, she was pissed off and starting to panic.

What freaked her out more was when someone grabbed her and pulled her into a back alley, covering her mouth.

She bit her assailant's hand and stamped on their foot. They growled. She recognized the sound and froze. He let go of her, and she slowly turned around.

"That's how you say hello?" She breathed.

"You know I can't be seen," Klaus replied.

"Then you call or text," she snapped. "Oh, I forgot, you don't know how to do that anymore."

He took a step forward. She took a step back.

"You ghosted me. Don't."

He looked away. "Why is there always something between us?"

"Maybe we're cursed," Morgana said bitterly. "Doomed no matter what we do."

He looked back at her. "You don't truly believe that."

She looked away this time, eyes burning. "I wish I did. Maybe then I could let you go." They both knew that was a lie. "Though," she added, "you seem to have no trouble there."

"I was trying to protect you," Klaus insisted.

"Don't bullshit me, Niklaus," she spat. "If you're going to explain yourself, you're going to tell the truth, or you're not going to even bother at all."

"I was slipping," he snapped. "You shouldn't see me like that."

"Like what?" She demanded. "I've seen you at your worst. You've seen me at mine. What made this time so different that you decided to disappear?"

"Because, Morgana, without Elijah--" he stopped.

She softened the slightest bit. Elijah's memories of his family were gone. Voluntarily given up to protect his family.

"I know," she said.

Silence stretched between them. Finally, Morgana sighed. "Why did you pull me into a back alley?"

"I wanted to see you," he replied. He took a step forward. This time she stayed put. She wanted to see how far he would go. "I missed you."

He kept coming closer until he was right in front of her. She looked up at him, but didn't say anything. He brushed a stray bit of hair out of her face. Her heart was racing.

"Did you?" She asked.

"Every day."

After that first year, Morgana had always wondered how quickly she would forgive Klaus for ghosting her. She supposed she had her answer now.

She reached up, cupped the back of his neck and pulled him down to kiss him. His hands immediately went to her waist, and he pushed her back against the wall. She hitched her left leg over his hip as he began to trail kisses down the column of her neck. Her breath caught in her throat. She gently pushed against his shoulders.

"I've never been much of an exhibitionist," she breathed.

He chuckled. She smiled. In a few moments, reality would come back threatening to crush her with its weight. She could enjoy a few moments of happiness.  
\-------------------------------  
"Americano with extra remorse," Freya said, sitting between Morgana and Vincent on the bench and handing him a coffee cup. "I'm sorry I haven't called you back. Family emergency."

"Yeah, well, it's gonna take something a hell of a lot stronger than an apology coffee for a Mikaelson family emergency," he replied.

"I thought you might say that, so that's more whiskey than it is coffee. Take a big gulp, because you should Klaus is in town."

"I _knew_ that that blood rain had something to do with your siblings. And the weatherman was talking about a "freak meteorological phenomenon", but ain't nobody stupid because I know what blood in my eyes feels like."

Freya glanced at Morgana, and a smirk grew on her face. Morgana raised an eyebrow.

"I'm surprised the hickey Morgana's neck wasn't a giveaway," she said.

Morgana blushed and pulled at the collar of her jacket in an attempt to cover it up. "Keep your voice down, my God. Anyway. Hayley is missing. Klaus is in town to find her, which he will, and then he'll leave."

"And so will Keelin and I," Freya said. She tapped Vincent. "But hey, in the meantime, why don't you ask the Oracle of Jackson Square what to do next?"

Morgana looked over at the tent where Ivy was set up. She was talking to a pair of potential customers.

"I need something serious, Freya," Vincent sighed.

"I'm being serious," Freya insisted. "And, after she reads your palm, maybe she'll let you palm her..." She stopped at the look he shot her. Morgana laughed.

"Alright, no crystal ball puns for you."

He took her hand. "I'm gonna miss you when you go."

Morgana laid her head on Freya's shoulder and took her other hand. "I second that."

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She lifted her head and pulled it out. She didn't recognize the caller ID. "Hello?"

"Morgana?"

"Marcel?"

"Yeah, we found out who took Hayley."

"Who are we killing?"

"You're not gonna wanna kill her."

"Try me."

"It was Hope."

"What?"

"She used her sire bond with Henry to get him to help her."

"Tell me you're joking."

"Wish I was."

"Well, thanks."

She hung up and turned to a very confused Freya and Vincent. She leaned in and lowered her voice as she told them what Marcel had told her.

"So," she said when she was done. "Who's telling Klaus?"  
\-------------------------------  
Morgana was the one who told him. Now she was in her room, listening to the sounds of Hope and Klaus arguing. Grendel, who had stayed at the compound with Hope all day, had joined her as soon as it started.

She supposed knocking her mother unconscious and hiding her away somewhere wasn't the worst Hope could've done. It wasn't great, obviously, but it was nothing compared to what Morgana had done as a teenager.

Nearly burning the house to the ground on several occasions and causing a few freak storms and earthquakes was probably at the top of that list.

"So how do we think this'll last?" She asked. "An hour?"

Grendel made a noise.

"Yeah, probably longer."

A couple hours longer, in fact. It wasn't until long after it was dark out that Morgana, Klaus and Freya went to get Hayley. Grendel stayed behind with Hope.

Hope had put her mother at St. Anne's. Morgana was tired of that church, after all these years and everything that had happened.

"I may need your help waking her," Klaus said as they went up the stairs to the attic. "Hope was boasting about a sleeping spell."

"Nothing we can't--" The words died in Morgana's throat when they entered the attic.

The coffin was open. Hayley wasn't inside, nor in the room. Instead, there was blood, so much blood, and tufts of fur clinging to a few objects. Most of the furniture had been smashed, and what was left standing was damaged in some way.

Morgana covered her mouth, panic building in her chest, and grabbed Klaus' hand.

"Oh my God," Freya breathed.  
\-------------------------------  
Morgana and Klaus went back to the compound. Freya stayed behind at the church to start a locator spell. Klaus went to tell Hope, and Morgana went digging in her dresser for her candles.

It was only a few minutes before Klaus called for her, sounding panicked. Morgana ran out of her room to Hope's and froze in the doorway.

Hope was kneeling on the floor, Klaus next to her. She was choking on something. Morgana watched in horror as a snake came out of Hope's mouth and landed on the floor.

"Go," Hope choked. "Go, you have to get out, you have to get out!"

Klaus looked over at Morgana. She came over as he stood.

"I'll take care of her," she whispered.

He nodded, and disappeared. Hope started crying. Morgana knelt next to her and held her as Grendel came bounding around the corner.

"We'll find her," Morgana promised. "And we'll bring her back home, and we'll destroy that dark magic."  
\-------------------------------  
Morgana brought out the last box to the car. She would be driving Hope back to school in Mystic Falls, and it was time to go.

She had also had the pleasure of meeting the teenage boy who had been hiding out in the compound all day.

"Did you know I was here the whole time?" He asked.

"Of course," she replied, closing the trunk.

"How?"

Grendel jumped up on her shoulder. The boy--Roman--pointed to him. "Shouldn't Hope's cat be staying here?

"He's not mine," Hope said, coming around the car.

"He's my Familiar," Morgana explained.

"I thought witches didn't have Familiars since the 1600s?" Roman asked. He looked at Hope. "Saltzman said the last family to have them were the Carters."

"Alaric would be correct," Morgana replied.

He looked back at her, dumbfounded. She resisted the urge to laugh.

"Auntie Ana is over four hundred years old, Roman," Hope explained, pride in her voice. "She's the last Carter alive."

Roman looked at Hope, then back at Morgana. Morgana swore she could see the gears turning in his head. Hope rolled her eyes, smiling. Morgana winked at her. She clapped her hands together. "Right, who's ready for a--"

A scream cut through the air. The three of them took off running toward the sound. They stopped at the corner and worked their way to the front of the crowd that had gathered. They looked up, and Morgana covered her mouth in shock.

Henry was hanging from the overhang of the building. There was a gaping hole in his chest where his heart had been. Morgana cursed. Hope grabbed her hand, and Morgana pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her. Roman was holding Hope's other hand.

New Orleans had a killer on the loose.


	3. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Morgana stormed into the compound. She nearly ran into a cop. Blinking, she looked around, taking in what appeared the be an entire police precinct set up and working in the courtyard as if it were their department. Feeling eyes on her, she looked up and locked eyes with Klaus. Judging by his subtle change in expression, he clearly realized how pissed she was. She stormed upstairs and into the study.

"Tell me Vincent has lost his mind," she growled. "He interrupted my locator spell to tell me you're threatening the factions with a Mikaelson family reunion if they don't find Hayley before sundown. I told him he must be mistaken, because surely you wouldn't be that damn stupid, but now I'm starting to think he was right since you seem so pleased with yourself."  
Marcel appeared next to her.

"And why are there cops in the courtyard?" She finished.

"They have numbers," Klaus explained. "I need eyes everywhere. Whoever did this can't hide from me."

She crossed her arms.

"What?" He snapped.

"You threatened all the factions, that's what," she snapped back. "Do I need to remind you--"

"No, Morgana, you don't need to remind me of anything! Perhaps I need to remind you that while you're standing here yelling at me, you could be making better use of yourself by getting back to that locator spell!"

Beside her, Marcel winced. Behind her, Grendel growled. Around them, the lights flickered. She pointedly turned to Marcel. "What's up?"

"There's chatter he's unhinged," he said, pointing to Klaus. "I'm just making sure he's not poised to do something we'll all regret."

"Well, if the suicidal simpletons who took my daughter's mother return her unharmed, I won't have to do something we'll all regret, will I?" Klaus retorted.

Something occurred to her. She turned back to him. "What happened when you went to France to see Elijah, Klaus?"

He hesitated. "Nothing. He wasn't there."

"You two didn't come face to face?" Marcel asked. "Because last I heard, Hope was picking maggots out of her cafeteria food."

"You seem to forget that my other siblings carry this curse."

"So this is because Kol and Rebekah had an impromptu reunion?"

"Well, she's certainly not with you, is she?"

"This city isn't gonna stand for the kind of retribution you're threatening, and neither am I."

"Then I suggest you take this as an incentive."

"Both of you, _shut up_ ," Morgana snapped. "God, I forgot what it was like to listen to you two jump down each other's throats, and I have _not_ missed it."

They opened their mouths, and she held up her hand and made a fist. Their mouths shut, and they found they couldn't open them again. She smiled sardonically.

"That will hold until either I say so or I leave," she said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go make better use of myself, as someone so eloquently put it, and continue my locator spell."

She turned to leave, and paused as a piece of paper appeared in the air above the courtyard and fell down to the ground. The three of them reached it at the same time, but Morgana was the one to pick it up.

It was an envelope. She opened it and pulled out a piece of paper that had an address on it. She handed it to Klaus and headed for the exit.  
\--------------------  
"Have you considered this might be a trap?" Marcel asked.

The address brought them to a small suburb in the Treme. It was a little too quiet for Morgana's taste. Grendel's, too, if the tense bundle inside her jacket was anything to go by.

"That's why you have me," she replied.

"I'm sure they'll quake with fear once you magically close their mouths," Klaus said.

She stepped in front of him, stopping him. Marcel kept going.

"Look," she hissed. "We're both pissed, we both want to kill several people, and we both want Hayley back, so you can be a dick to everyone else, but watch your tone with me."

She turned around and caught up to Marcel, who was standing in front of a house. She looked at the house number; they were here.

"What do you hear?" Klaus asked, catching up to them.

"Absolutely nothing," Marcel replied.

Morgana was the first one up to the door, ignoring Klaus calling after her. She opened the door quietly, carefully stepping inside in case of creaky floorboards. Klaus and Marcel were right behind her, and they split up to search the house.

Marcel called them. Morgana went to the room he was in and froze, Klaus behind her. There was a single chair in the middle of the room. Leather cords with spikes were laying on and around it. All of it was covered in blood.

Marcel smelled the cords. "Wolfsbane and vervain."

She looked around the room and froze. They followed her gaze to words written in blood on the wall.

 _Freak. Filth. Crossbreed._  
\--------------------  
Klaus was gone by the time Vincent arrived. He and Morgana did some spells, trying to glean whatever information they could from the room.

"There's nothing," Morgana said, frustrated. "Just...just fear."

"It's dripping off these walls," Vincent agreed.

"Are you a hundred percent sure no one in your ranks did this?" Marcel asked.

"I'm a hundred percent sure. Are you?"

"Seven years ago I would've said absolutely, but now I get more attitude than allegiance."

"The city grew used to running as a democracy instead of the monarchy you preferred," Morgana said.

Footsteps came from outside, and Ivy came running in. "He took Colette."

"What?"

"Klaus. He took a member of each faction. Colette, David, who's one of Lisina's wolves, and that vampire who runs Rousseau's."

"Josh?" Marcel asked.

She nodded. "He said if we don't turn in Hayley by sundown, he'll slaughter them."

Thunder cracked in the distance. They all turned to Morgana.

"I'll take care of him, " she said simply.

"There is no taking care of Klaus Mikaelson," Vincent started.

"You know what, Vincent," she snapped. "I get it, you hate Klaus, you hate all of them, I get it, I understand, and I could waste our time telling you that you don't know them like I do, which is true, but for God's sake, just shut up already. I would've thought the past seven years would've instilled in you at least a little bit of faith in me, but apparently not." She loosed a breath. "Leave Klaus to me."

She stormed out of the house, called on Air, and flew away.  
\--------------------  
The cops were gone when she got to the compound. She went to the dungeon and cursed. Josh, Colette and David were inside a salt circle.

"I'm guessing you've come to get us out of here," Josh said.

"You've guessed right," Morgana replied.

"You've guessed wrong," Klaus said from behind her.

"Oh, I cannot wait to have this conversation," Morgana sighed, rolling her eyes.

She mumbled a spell under her breath, and both she and Klaus teleported to the courtyard.

"What the hell are you thinking, Klaus?" She asked. "What's the point of the hostages?"

"The factions needed motivation," he replied. "I provided that motivation. I see you've sent away the city's finest."

"That wasn't me. They were already gone when I got here."

"They were useful, unlike the rest of you."

"I think you mean playthings. And you've got plenty of those in the dungeon. Now, instead of searching for Hayley, the factions are hiding in their corners, paranoid. Let the prisoners go."

"You think I should be weak? Give in to my enemy?"

Her voice sharpened. "If being weak means keeping Hayley alive, then _yes_."

"Don't presume to lecture me," he snapped. "For centuries I have bent the wills of countless fools to do my bidding because they feared me. I know how to protect this family."

"God _damn_ it, Niklaus, this is my family too!" Morgana screamed. "I am trying to keep you from making the biggest _fucking_ mistake of your life, so you don't have to tell Hope that _you_ are the reason her mother is dead!"

"He knew!" Klaus screamed back. "Elijah knew who he was, and he still told me to leave. He didn't want anything to do with any of us. He's gone, Morgana. He's gone."

There were tears in his eyes. She hugged him.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "I'm sorry, Nik. But you can't let it cloud your judgement, not now."

There was a thud behind them, like something fell. They pulled apart and turned. There was a box laying on the ground with a note on top. Klaus picked up the note and unfolded it.

_Per your request._

Morgana picked up the box, dreading what was inside. She opened the lid, and nearly dropped it. Inside was a piece of skin with a crescent-shaped mark on it. Hayley's birthmark.

Klaus vamp sped away. Morgana's heart dropped, and she bolted for the dungeon, paying no mind to the box clattering to the ground. When she got there, David's heart was laying on the ground next to his body. Colette was laying next to him bleeding from her neck. Klaus was advancing on Josh. Morgana made a fist and twisted her wrist. Klaus' neck snapped, and he dropped to the ground. Marcel and Vincent arrived. Morgana leaned back against the wall, breathing hard, and ran her hands through her hair.

"You said--" Vincent began, looking at her.

"I know what I said," she cut him off. Her voice cracked at the end. She swallowed. "He was gonna let them go. Then a box appeared in the courtyard with a piece of Hayley's skin inside, and I couldn't stop him, so I snapped his neck."

Marcel hugged her. She was stunned for a moment before returning it.  
\--------------------  
When Klaus woke back up, Morgana wasn't there. When he came out of the dungeon, and she was sitting in the courtyard staring at the fountain, and he tried to talk to her, she ignored him. When that pissed him off and he tried to storm out, he hit the barrier spell she'd placed around the compound. When he whirled around and demanded to know what she was doing, she told him to shut up, and didn't look at him.

Marcel came in as Klaus threw the box against the wall. Grendel growled. He stopped when there was a tinkling sound, like a coin being dropped. Klaus picked up whatever it was that fell. Morgana got up, and she and Marcel went over to see what it was.

"A coin?" Morgana asked.

"A message," Klaus replied. "From enemies I thought I'd buried long ago."

He turned the coin over. A swastika was on the other side.


	4. Don't It Just Break Your Heart

Klaus and Marcel had gone hunting for the owner of the coin, while Morgana stayed behind to prepare the dungeon for the torture session that was sure to follow. When Klaus came back with Greta Sienna in tow, she couldn't say she was terribly surprised. Morgana wasted no time in chaining her up and nailing those chains to the floor and starting to drain her blood.

"You know," Klaus said. "For someone who organized this little summit, you're woefully short on details. So I'm going to ask you one last time. Where are you keeping Hayley?"

Greta stayed silent.

"You knew we'd have this chat. No doubt you binged on vervain until your throat was red and raw. And now, sadly, drip, drip, drip, all over the floor it goes."

"Sein mangel an vision wird sein untergang sein," Greta said.

Morgana raised an eyebrow. German?

"His lack of vision will be his downfall," Klaus translated.

"That's what he always said about you."

"He?"

"You and I have a friend in common."

"I sincerely doubt that."

"It's true. August Müller. I don't blame you for forgetting. It was a long time ago. Rostock, Germany, Spring 1933."

Morgana glanced at Klaus. He wasn't quite as smug now.

"Do you remember him now?" Greta asked.

"As an elephant considers a gnat," he replied. "Merely a trifle."

"That trifle is my Bodhiharma, my Guru Nanak, my Jesus!" Greta snapped. "August is the touchstone of everything I believe, and the reason my friends and I have taken your sweet Hayley."

Morgana called on Fire and turned the nails hammered down into Greta's hands hot enough to turn red. Greta let out a screech, and Morgana let the nails cool back down.

"Your daughter is dangerous," Greta said after a long moment. "A menace, a threat."

"My daughter is a child," Klaus snapped.

"A child born of werewolf blood, who can create hybrids at will. Her defect must be corrected."

"Her defect is my defect! Say that again, I'll pluck out your eyeballs and eat them like olives off my fingertips."

"I'll call it what it is: a dirtying of my species, which diminishes the pure and superior nature of vampires."

Morgana heated up the nails briefly as a warning. "Get to the point, you purist bitch."

Greta glared at her, then looked back at Klaus. "Your daughter will purify herself, submitting to the same spell your mother, Esther, used to bind you. Once her werewolf side is sublimated, Hope will no longer be capable of creating her abominations."

"And if she doesn't, Hayley will die," Morgana guessed.

Greta smirked. "Clock is ticking."

They left her sitting there and met Marcel back upstairs in the compound.

"Who the hell is August Müller?" Morgana asked as Grendel climbed up to her shoulder. She reached up and scratched behind his ears.

"The man was a forgettable artist," Klaus replied. "A virulent fascist, and a murderous slob who slaughtered werewolves by the pack."

"And what did you do to him?"

"What makes you think I had any piece in this?"

"A couple hundred years of history," Marcel replied.

Morgana snorted. Klaus rolled his eyes. "That hideous Greta woman with her severance for a dilletante who made no mark upon the world. I will not entertain her hateful ask and bind my child."

"Shouldn't Hope get a say in this?" Marcel asked.

"This fate she demands, the curse I bore for a millenia, I can't put my daughter through that. It's a pain worse than death. No, I will see that woman roast upon a pyre before I give in to the demands of these cultists."

"If, God forbid, something happens to Hayley," Morgana said quietly, "and Hope finds out this was a way to prevent it, she'll never forgive you."

"And if I impose this shame upon my daughter and they kill her mother anyway?" Klaus argued. "I won't forgive myself."

He walked out of the room. Morgana and Marcel shared a look.  
\----------------------------------------------  
"Marcel, I have a question," Klaus announced.

Morgana, who'd been in the middle of another locator spell, shot him a look. "Don't distract me."

He and Marcel stepped out of the room. She could still hear them. She closed her eyes, intending to try again.

"Would it be wrong of me to assume there are traitors in my midst?" Klaus asked.

She opened her eyes in time to see Marcel roll his eyes.

"If you're about to delve into paranoia, Nik, I'll slap you," she warned.

"If that zealot claims to have friends, I'll choose to believe her," he replied. He looked back at Marcel. "It's been two days since you pledged your allegiance, and your first response to Greta's demands is to question me."

"It was to find a way out," Marcel said. "It's gonna take hours to get her clean. And in the meantime, Hayley sits some damn place. I'm just looking for a way to get them to give her back."

"I'll tell you how they'll give her back: breathless in a wooden box. These people respond to strength, not capitulation. Do you both understand that reality?"

"Niklaus, you better not be speaking to me," Morgana said.

"Can I count on you not to blink in the face of their hatred?" He continued.

"I'm a bisexual woman, Klaus. I've experienced and witnessed enough hatred to know when to spit in their faces and when to bide my time."

Klaus looked to Marcel.

"Always," Marcel said.

Klaus left the room. Marcel waited a beat, then turned to Morgana. "You see that? That is the problem with our relationship. I think I've signed up to be his partner, he thinks I've pledged allegiance to the king."

"And so goes the centuries old song and dance," she muttered.

Josh entered the room. The look on his face made her sigh. "What did you do?"

Josh looked at her, startled. "What do you mean?"

"You've got the look on your face most people get when they know something and they're not particularly thrilled about it."

He looked at Marcel, who shrugged. Morgana drummed her fingers against the table, nails clicking against the wood. "I could force it out of you."

"Well, not to risk my skull again," Josh said, shooting Marcel a look, "but he probably should've told him he called Freya with Greta's demands."

"Of course you did."

"There's nothing to say until Freya calls back and tells me if Hope intends to bind herself," Marcel said.

Morgana set her head on the table with a dull thud. "He already knows."

"You told him?" Marcel demanded.

She raised her head and glared at him. "I didn't know until this very moment, Marcellus. Klaus isn't stupid. He's probably on his way to Mystic Falls right now to stop them, because we both know Hope will do it."

He cursed.  
\----------------------------------------------  
Morgana had a feeling that something bad was about to happen. That feeling manifested itself as Grendel, who was leading her to the dungeon and, therefore, Greta. She could hear Josh talking to her. Grendel picked up speed, and she followed suit until they were running.

In the mere moments that followed their arrival, Greta broke the chains around her wrist. Grendel screamed, and Morgana ordered him to get Klaus and Marcel as she used Air to yank Josh away from Greta. He hit the wall behind her with a hard thud, and Greta snarled at her. Before Morgana could do anything, Greta was on her. 

She grabbed Morgana and sank her teeth into Morgana's throat. Morgana screamed in pain and grabbed on to Greta. She held on as tight as she could and used Fire to burn Greta wherever she touched Morgana. Greta screamed against her throat, the sound garbled from the blood, and tore herself out of Morgana's grip. Her skin was red and blistering, and her clothes had holes burned into them, revealing more burned skin. She vamp sped away.

Morgana turned back to the entrance and stumbled forward, unsure if she was trying to go after Greta or if she was trying to get to Klaus. She took three more steps and collapsed, gasping and choking. She groaned, realizing it would likely be well into the night when she woke up this time. She cursed, and everything went black.  
\----------------------------------------------  
She woke, in bed, with a start. She sat up quickly, Grendel mewling at her side. She scratched behind his ears and looked out the window. She'd guessed right--it was dark out. Her hand instinctively brushed her throat, of course finding it completely healed. The only abnormal thing was the dried blood crusted on her skin and the top of her shirt.

The door opened, and Klaus entered. Seeing she was awake, he quickly sat next to her, eyes fixed on her neck and, no doubt, the blood. Grendel jumped off the bed and left the room.

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked.

"I'm here," Morgana replied. "She's gone?"

He nodded.

"Did Josh make it out?"

He nodded again.

"Did Hope do the ritual?"

"She was going to. Freya was going to help her."

"And you stopped them?"

"Of course I did," he growled.

She frowned at his tone, but took his hand in hers and placed her other hand along the side of his face.

"Look at me," she said softly.

It took him a moment, but Klaus finally lifted his gaze to hers. She gave his hand a light squeeze, running her thumb along his knuckles. "Talk to me."

"Absent Elijah," he began after a moment, "my temper gets the better of me. It did today. And it did a century ago with August. I am far from blameless, Morgana. Although he got nothing less than what he deserved. In fact, I think I took it easy on him. But the rest never saw it coming. Some of them were guilty of hate, but most were innocent. And they all became victims of that part of me I'd been forced to suppress. So you see, in the end, I was the match that lit the fuse. My mistake was that I humiliated them, and in doing so I empowered them with the most potent form of hate, that which fueled my rage for a millenia: shame. I gifted them shame."

Morgana swallowed. "We'll deal with them. We'll get Hayley back, we'll take care of Greta and everyone working with her."

His free hand slipped around her waist. "How are you so positive?"

"I'm not," she whispered. "But if I don't keep telling myself that, then I don't know what the hell I'll do."

He pulled her into a hug, which she immediately returned and hid her face in his neck.


End file.
